During my recent review trip, I had the chance to visit the Amex Centurion Lounge JFK. This lounge opened in late 2020, and I know many people are quite fond of this location, and find it to be among the best in the Centurion Lounge network.
Continue reading: Review: Amex Centurion Lounge New York (JFK)
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Really strange you had a bad experience there. For all my overcrowded Amex lounge stories, JFK stands out as being the one lounge I've never seen crowded.
I was there in the evening a few weeks ago and had a great experience in the downstairs 'speakeasy,' with a super nice bartender. Too bad I didn't know they had a buffet downstairs because I definitely almost dropped my food carrying it down the stairs.
The infinitely variable star ratings scale strikes again!
The SAS Lounge Chicago: 2.5 stars, absolutely trashed by Ben in the text.
Centurion Lounge JFK: 3 stars!
The mornings there are not fun. I cannot understand why they aren't opening downstairs to alleviate that. The most fun feature downstairs is the hidden speakeasy, it's so nice in there and can rival any fancy bar in the city - the cocktails are excellent and there is a great vibe!
Many of the photos look like you would be sitting in a hallway. Not very inviting.
Yeah Amex has done wonders to limit crowding....lmao, idiots. Centurion lounges are a complete and utter joke.
I just visited this lounge last week and was disappointed. The lower level wasn’t that much better - it seemed like a lot of small sectioned off rooms. The massive crowding didn’t help either. Was a fairly big discrepancy compared to the new centurion SEA which had a much nicer space.
It’s such a poorly laid out space. So much of both levels is tight hallway-like space along the windows.
That being said, the speakeasy is incredible. Dark and quiet, it’s a true escape from the typical craziness of the centurion lounge experience
It doesn't seem like they have barista made coffee drinks? That was held against each of the AA/BA lounges when you reviewed them, but glossed over very quickly here. Is the AMEX machine made coffee that much better than the AA/BA machine made coffee?
@ hotintx -- My expectations vary based on the type of lounge. With the exception of the new lounge in Seattle, no US Amex Centurion Lounges have barista coffee, so I wasn't expecting it.
The reason I specifically called out the lack of barista coffee for the Chelsea and Soho Lounges is because they're supposed to be better than business class lounges, so that's the point at which I start to expect that to be a standard amenity. This is something you'll find at United Polaris Lounges and the Qantas Lounge LAX, for example, which I'd put in the same competitive set as those lounges.
@ Never In Doubt -- My star rating is also intended to reflect the alternatives. At ORD T5, the alternative is the Swissport Lounge, which makes the SAS Lounge look luxurious, by comparison. In this case, there are quite a few good lounges in T4, so it's much more competitive. I get if you have a different take, but hopefully that explains where I'm coming from.
The space was indeed specifically designed to host a lounge, because everything past the little "bridge" with glass railings you go across shortly after entering (seen in one of your photos) was built onto the original terminal building specifically to create space for the lounge. Why they chose such a poor design for that added-on space is unclear.
I'm also curious how you accessed the lounge given the limitation of only 3 hours before departure when you weren't flying until the evening.
@ Bgriff -- I had two days in New York, so on my first full day I ended up doing a segment run on AA to get to 30 segments in order to unlock the added reward tiers.
Agreed, I've been to this lounge a dozen times and it was never full unlike every other Amex lounge in the system.
I think it's partly due to the location which is not that attractive for connecting pax.
Ben -
I really appreciate and enjoy your new star rating system. However, it still seems wildly inconsistent, thus rendering it not particularly useful. Have you thought about creating a set of guidelines or a rubric of some sort? Would add clarity and consistency. Otherwise it seems a bit like Tripadvisor where you see people giving a Ritz one star reviews because it doesn't have free breakfast but loving places like Drury Inns because of all the freebies.
Surprised by some of the comments. I like this lounge a lot more than other Centurion lounges (looking at you SFO and LAX). The downstairs has slightly more cushy seating but otherwise is similar. The biggest benefit, which I value greatly personally, is windows/views. This lounge with its awkward layout maximizes that so I love that about this lounge. I hate being in SFO which is windowless and not as nice as the United lounge with huge windows overlooking the tarmac. To each his own...
Ben, I'm a pretty avid reader of OMAAT, and yet, I had no idea that stars were calibrated vs. the readily available competition.
As others have suggested above, maybe add an explainer!
I used this lounge on my recent evening flight from JFK. I have to say I wasn't very impressed, especially compared to the one at LHR that I'd used on the outbound flight.
The food was mostly uninspiring, although they did have some chicken wings as a special (it was Superbowl night) which were pretty good. They ran out quickly though.
The space itself was decent enough but felt quite average, not really an exclusive feeling experience. It was quite busy, although there was enough seating.
I should have been able to access the Virgin Clubhouse with an Amex Platinum card, although they came up with some excuse about the card machine not working so they couldn't verify my Amex card. I suspect that would have been a much better experience.
I think the problem is about your expectations. For some reason you think the Amex lounges are different than other airline lounges and they are not. They have a different décor or style to them and slightly better food, but they are just a lounge like all of them and suffer from inconsistencies and being overcrowded.
I had also 2 bad experiences in that lounge before a JFK-CDG flight after 8pm. Much too crowded to be relaxful and quite a mess everywhere. The first time, I actually left after 5 minutes as I was so disappointed by the experience and felt I'd be better in the terminal. (The Delta Sky club had a line to get in so probably not a better option either)
Overall, I didn't feel this lounge felt very exclusive. I missed the daylight view though, maybe that would have made it better...
I'm in centurion at seatac right now. It is busy but no problem finding a seat.
Was just announcement over tannoy not to put feet on seats. Not sure if that is something which is done at all centurions
Smoothie bar is open with a choice of 3 pre made . It closes at 7pm
The LHR Centurion Lounge is an outlier insofar as the food and service are quite good. Sadly, the US Centurion Lounges I've visited are really just slightly better than most other US airline lounges.
This lounge has gone downhill even from summer 2021. There used to be some variety to the menus but now it’s been chicken thighs every single time I’ve visited (roughly once per month) in 2022 and 2023.
I think it's already amazing that the lounge would be open as early as 5am. I don't think it's reasonable to expect all the amenities to be open at this time, especially the speakeasy bar downstairs, which is really awesome and serves great cocktails. I also can't think there would be any crowding at this time, so I think it's smart of Amex to open the core area of their lounge that early for the few passengers having the time to stop at a lounge for their 6am flight and open the rest of the lounge a bit later. I would probably suggest picking up a more standard time of the day for doing a full review of a lounge. It's one of my favorite Centurion lounges.
5:00 am is exactly the time I need a Lounge to be offering all amenities as I am either tired. transiting or in serious need of all that an airport Lounge offers. Is not the rationale for wanting to access an airport Lounge is that it provides an amenity when it is needed most? I understand that this Lounge is at its best later in the day but on that basis, the Lounge is a fail for me. Maybe Ben should provide an oversight as to what he requires of a Lounge.
@Ben, So does this mean that a rubbish priority pass lounge at an airport with no other lounges available automatically gets 4-5 stars just because there is no competition?
Or the second best lounge in the world gets only 4 because it is at same airport as the best lounge in the world?
JFK Centurion Lounge follows the same day boarding pass rule to a tee and also ignores Amex's rule of "if the lounge closes before your flight departs, you can enter the lounge 3 hours before the lounge closes". I had a 12:20am flight (20 minutes past midnight) and the lounge dragon turned me away because I did not have a same day boarding pass.
Sorry I must come from a different planet. There is absolutely nothing luxury or exclusive about this lounge. Everyone seems to get in and with my Centurion membership I am allowed to sit in a corner any use dirty couches and filthy tables. I need to get the drinks in a different very busy section, wait in line with an unfriendly, bad dressed, bad behaved and understaffed bar. As un most US outlets. The public toilets (all lounge users use them) are cheap finished and simply disgusting. So as much in the US all luxury is commoditized and therefore dirty and not luxury anymore. The use of material and furnishing is also cheap and nothing exclusive at all. So all in all not sure what you all see in this. Go to the far east and see what luxury means. This is definitely, by any standards not at all.
Ben, I've gone this lounge several times for morning flights; my experience has been identical to yours. Way too narrow and congested for the morning crowd. The Delta club in the same terminal is more spacious. I think the nearby LGA Centurion Club learned from JFK's mistakes.
The food at the JFK lounge was so bad that I took a bite, dumped my plate, left, waited in line for 30 minutes to enter the Delta lounge, and was so happy I made that decision. Come on Amex. Do better. ICK.
Please visit CLT Centurian lounge -- good luck getting in. They make you stand in line to get on a waitlist, the worst part is having to make your way upstairs to be told go back down and wait for a text.